This invention relates to a radial load bearing system of a rotary kiln suitable for use in cement and chemical industries.
In a radial load bearing system of a rotary kiln of the prior art, a plurality of rollers supported by roller shafts maintained in contact with tires of the rotary kiln for rotation while having a radial load applied thereto are located in side-by-side relation and secured through respective bearing boxes to bases placed on the ground. In the radial load bearing system of this construction, it heas hitherto been customary to effect adjustments of the manner in which the tire is kept in contact with the rollers by causing the bearing boxes to move in sliding movement in a horizontal plane on the bases to affix each of the bearing boxes in a correct position.
The following disadvantages have been associated with the aforesaid radial load bearing system. Once each of the bearing boxes is affixed in place, it is impossible to effect adjustments of the manner in which the tire is kept in contact with the rollers until the next following operation for affixing the bearing boxes is performed. Thus, in the event that the main body of the rotary kiln undergoes expansion and contraction due to high temperature during operation, the center axis of the rotary kiln might become eccentric, thereby bringing the tire into contact with the rollers lopsidedly and causing them to suffer uneven wear. When more than three radial load bearing systems of this construction are used for one rotary kiln, a gap might be formed between the tires and rollers in some of the systems, and such system might be unable to satisfactorily perform the function of bearing the load at all times during the rotation of the rollers. This would cause the rest of the systems to bear an additional share of load, resulting in an overloading of these systems. When this phenomenon repeatedly occurs, wear and damage caused to the contacting surfaces of the tire and rollers would increase, making it necessary to repeatedly perform the operation of moving the bearing boxes in sliding movement toward the center axis of the rotary kiln and affixing them in correct positions.
In the radial load bearing system of the aforesaid construction, the horizontal components of forces exerted on the roller shafts by the weight of the rotary kiln are borne repeatedly by the bases located in side-by-side relation on the ground. This has made it necessary to use bases incorporating improvements in construction.